[Adam Bishop]

Best injury prevention for rugby: get strong through full ranges of motion. All movements.

Axial loading is key for some positions such as yours especially with your occasional stints in the front row.

Calf isometric strength is key. Both endurance and peak strength so sets of holds for 5-45seconds

Neck isometric strength is essential across all positions with the front row guys also requiring some compression work and additional extension work.

Multi directional running should be covered by squad rugby sessions however some guys require additional attention in this area.

Patellar tendinitis should be conservatively managed with daily isometric holds. Spanish squat ISOs are a good option with minimal equipment needed (YouTube them).

Ultimately what I told my guys while I coached them was you can be weak and in pain or you can get stronger and be in less pain which circles around to my first point.

[Adam Bishop]

Back home in the UK. Not a lot of sleep was had on the plane last night even with my CPAP set up. Landed at 0630 this morning and straight home. Grabbed a couple more hours sleep then off for some soft tissue work on my legs.

Food shop and dog walk this evening and now it’s an early night ready to get back at it tomorrow morning with some events and pressing in the afternoon.

[Adam Bishop]

Final day in NYC. At the airport now waiting to board the plane home. Looking forward to getting back into my usual routine but it’s been a lot of fun seeing the sights in NY. I’m really not a city person, I like to look at trees, hills and other green stuff but I would sum up NY like this: amazing sights, very loud and smells of weed and piss.

Anyway got my pull session done this morning. Had some issues keeping plates on the bar which pissed me off (strongman problem) but other than that it was a good session:

Deadlift 295×4 (should have been 8 but the plates fell off on rep 5)
SA DB Row 50×15 40×20
Panatta low row 120×10 80×15
Upright Row 65x3x16 (rest pause)
Standing DB Curl 22.5×8 15×14
DB Hammer Curl 15x3x14 (rest pause)

[Adam Bishop]

Rest day which involved a lot of walking around NYC watching the marathon.

Last day in the US tomorrow. I’ll train in the morning at Mid City again then it’s back home to some normality.

[Adam Bishop]

Don’t forget what I said in the other thread about the neck work please Thomas.

Add 4 way banded neck isometric holds to each session please. 3 sets of 15-30secs in each position.

[Adam Bishop]

Legs session at Bev Francis’ powerhouse today. Very impressive gym packed full of some proper old school kit. Another day of plenty of mental arithmetic as I converted lbs to kg.

Squat 182.5×5 207.5×3 230×5
Hack squat 6pps x11 4pps x16
Flex fitness leg extension 3 sets
Prone leg curl 3 sets
Standing calf raise 3 sets
Single leg calf raise 3 sets

Rest day tomorrow which will be an early start to watch the marathon. Plenty of walking and negotiating the subway so wish me luck

[Adam Bishop]

Have you watched the upper lower video in the education section?

Watch that and the part 2 with the questions then come back and put your own programme together. That way myself and the other guys can appraise it and suggest some adjustments.

This is a much better way of doing things rather than asking for a programme to be given to you. You’ll learn much better trying things for yourself then asking for input from the guys on here.

Plus we don’t know what kit you have available to you so any programme put together by us may not even be possible to do at your gym.

Have a think about your training, watch the videos, put something together and then I suggest putting it in a new thread for myself and the other guys to have a look at and make suggestions if needed.

[Adam Bishop]

Push session today in Midcity gym in manhattan. Cool basement gym with some great kit. I’ll train in there on Monday as well as I’ll be able to deadlift there.

Military Press 95×5 110×3 125×4
BTN Press 60×11 40×18
Dips +30×9 BWx20
Pressdowns 50×8 30×16
Lateral raise machine – 3 sets
Pec Dec – 3 sets
JM press Ups – 3 sets

Did a lot of walking today – hopefully a bit less tomorrow. Heading out to Bev Francis’ Powerhouse for my lower session

[Adam Bishop]

Upper lower split would be a good way to go. Remember to keep training your neck strength. Banded isometric holds are essential in any rugby programme whatever the position.

I will say this: please please please keep in your on field running and some skill work during this period. Zero point “packing on as much muscle as possible” if you’re unable to run about a rugby field.

I assume you’re from the southern hemisphere? If so some touch footy weekly would be a good thing to do. Keeps skills sharp and involves some multidirectional running to keep joints and connective tissues used to the demands of the sport. Failing this some tempo runs on field once or twice a week will be good for conditioning and keep you ready for the return to rugby.

[Adam Bishop]

143.3kg this morning. Rest day. Travelled to New York today. Walked a lot and I find city life very stressful. I have no idea how people can live in cities every day.

Anyway went to the expo for the wife to get her number and all that. It’s very funny being 300+lbs walking around endurance athletes haha.

Found a cool gym round the corner from the hotel to frequent tomorrow for some push.

[Adam Bishop]

Morning session at the farm:

Yoke 160x4x20m
Bag toss 20x4x2
SL Calf Raise 1 max rep set

Evening session in the Barn:

Deadlift 320×5
CG Pulldowns 144×7 106.5×12
Seated cable Row 144×8 106.5×14
BB upright Row 40x3x14 (rest pause)
Supine DB Curl – 3 sets

Great days training done. Felt like all I’ve done today is train, eat or prep food to eat. Body and brain is proper mashed from the past few days training. Rest day tomorrow while I fly out to New York for the wife’s marathon run on Sunday.

[Adam Bishop]

For strongman you need to focus on two key areas:

1. Static strength
2. Efficient moving events

Build global strength around large rep ranges. Obviously deadlift is heavily favoured in strongman but military press should also be a focus. Grip strength is something that is also tested.

Find somewhere that has strongman kit and focus on getting very efficient at the movements. Build perfect technique on moving events and focus on speeds rather than loads. How fast can I move this 200kg yoke 20m rather than what’s the heaviest yoke I can carry 20m. Load will come as you get heavier and stronger – focus on great technique for now.

[Adam Bishop]

I have a life fitness one and it works for me.

[Adam Bishop]

Awesome day today. Physio session this morning and things are looking good. Calf down to a 12% deficit on the endurance test. Also added in some plyos now in the form for 3×20” pogos. Also got the green light to add some atlas stone one motions focusing on getting full extension.

Moved some stuff around order wise tonight as my knees need some time to warm up before squats. Also I’ve had to drop the leg extension out for barn sessions as I’ve maxed it out.

Seated Leg Curl 122.5x3x12 (rest pause)
Squat 195×3 207.5×3 220×3
Stone one motions 4×3
SL Leg Press 200×12
Paused leg Press 200×20
Heel elevated SSB Squat – 2sets

No calf work after this as i completed that during my physio session in the morning. Pull tomorrow.

[Adam Bishop]

141.5kg – Trip to to physique warehouse today for my push session.

Military press 103×3 110×3 115×6
Atlantis incline 240×8 then drop set
Prime CGBP 160×7 80×14
BTN Standing Press 3×10
Pec dec 3×10
Seated DB Clean and Press 3×10
Tricep tripleset 3 sets

Added in some BTN pressing to aid with my mobility above head as it’s starting to get bad again. Very noticeable on the military press now. I’ll run the BTN presses for a while as they usually help me. Also I’ll stop using the squat bar on leg day and move back to a standard power bar to force me into a better position. Both these things usually improve my overhead position.